Knife sharpener



Aug. 5, 1952 F. B. ABRAMSEN 2,605,595

KNIFE SHARPENER Filed Sept. 7, 1950 INVEN TOR.

' Finn B. Abramsen HIS ATTORNE Y5 Patented Aug. 5, 1952 UbIlTED STATE KNIFE SHARPENER 1 V s B. Abramsen, eliall,Pa. f. s f Application September '1, 1950;"Serial No. 183,635

'sclaims. (01.51%2023)" This invention relates to improvements in means forsharpening knives and the like; more particularly to manually operable sharpening means having a pair of abrasive stones for putti a fine edge on a knife or similar implement.

'An object of my'invention is to provide an M abrasive sharpening means for knives and the,

like which is efiective, simple in construction,

rugged, easy to use, and low in costso as to be suitable for general household use'as well as for other uses. An ancillaryobject of my invention is to provide a knife sharpener which can be secured to any convenient wall or can be mounted on a small portable board orv the like.

form of my invention, the sharpening means includes a knife-sharpener. mechanism built around a springy yoke that is somewhat in the form of a U-shapedt'nember having legs with I Each offset portion rotatably s, carries a frusto-conical roller in the. nature of a offset portions.

vention, in addition .to the foregoing, will'be discernible from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof. The description is to be taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a top view showing a knife-sharpener embodying the principles of my invention, carried on a portable support;

Figs. 2 and 3-are a front view-and a side view, respectively, of the sharpener on a support; and

Fig; 4'is, an enlarged sectional view of the sharpener on the line IV-gIV of Fig. l. I

[A complete sharpening device embodying'my invention comprises a knife-sharpener mechanism and a support therefor, identified in Fig. 1 by the reference numerals 2 and 4, respectively. In this particular embodiment, the device" is intended to be hand-manipulatable,so that itcarries a suitably shaped handle 6 which can easily and firmly be grasped and held in one hand of a person. The knife-sharpener mechanism 2 comprises'a yoke 8, formed from a single piece of metal. As better shown in Fig. 2, the yoke 8,

prises a base I!) and a pair of spaced facing leg In accordance with the 'presently preferred I members l2 'and [4 having a :widthadequate to accommodate the knife-sharpening rollers subsequently described. r 1

The base I!) is slightly convex upwardly about an axis parallelto-the leg members l2and l4, so. that the yoke has a pair of curved narrow supporting portions 16 and [8 which contact and rest on any suitable 'flat support indicated at 20 in Figs. 2 and 3, whilethe central part of the base is raised from the support. The supporting portions l6 and 18 are at the part of the yokewhere itsleg members [2 and 14 merge into its base (0 ;v so that these supporting portions are, in efiect,,'pivots on which the leg members can turn to a limited extent. The yoke-8 is'secured-to the support Why a pair of screws .22,

or the equivalent, passing through the holes at opposite ends of the -base Ill. The holes are centrally in the curved or convex portion of the I abrasive sharpening rollers 24 and 26, respectively, made from a suitable abrasive. To this end, the 'leg' members I2 and I4 are provided the left when the knife-sharpener mechanism 41s viewed sidewise. Each oifset portion has an inner lug 32 and an outer lug 34 bent over from the main portion of the associated leg member and extending in a direction toward the other leg member. Each pair of lugs 32'and 34 on an offset portion rotatably carries a knife- 'sharpening roller on a shaft, identified as 36 for the legmember l2 and as 38 for the leg member I4. 'The'shafts 35' and38 support the sharpening rollers 24 and 26 respectively. The rollers arefrusto-conical in shape. It is'to :be

noted that the arrangement-of the' lugs is such that shafts 36 and '38 lie in parallel planes but in lines that slope in opposite directions; "and smaller bases. As a result the larger bases face outwardly.

The offset portions28 and 30of the1i1 6 lrneini' bers l2 and M, and the lugs 32 and3j4' of the offset portions position the tapered rollers 24 and 26 so that the rollers are spaced apart, as better shown in Fig. 1, in the direction in which a knife is drawn through the knife-sharpener mechanism 2 for sharpening, and so that the operable surface-portions of the rollers that are to be contacted by the knife-edge are at an angle to each when observed, as seen in Fig. 2.

. 3 The knife to be sharpened is drawn through the knife-sharpener mechanism 2 in a path which places its edge between and substantially parallel to the parallel planes including the shafts 36 and 38. The faces of the rollers 24 and 26 have a slight taper and overlap slightly so that contact between the knife-edge and the faces is assured. As the knife edgeis .drawn across the faces, it frictionally slides in contact with them, but the slope of the shafts'and faces causes slow rotation of the rollers, ,so that they wear evenly. To some extent the degree of spaced along said path, a resilient supporting pressure between the rollers, on the one hand;

and the knife, on the other hand, is controlled by the operator.

When a knife is forcedbetween the rollers 24 and 26, the leg members. l2 and [4 are forcibly spread, turning, on the support portions I6 and I8 of the yoke 8', as:-

'wardly or inwardly towards the associated sharpening roller. These abutment edges keep the knife-edge along substantiallya straight line'in proper" angular contact-with the faces of the rollers 24 and 25, as the knife is drawn through the knife-sharpener mechanism 2' and prevent the knife from being pressed down through the rollers on to the base I 0. I

The small size and simplicity. of the knifesharpener mechanism permits it'to be mounted to suit any appropriate-use. Fig. 1 shows the implernent as portable, so that it can be held in one hand While a knife is drawn through it by the other hand for sharpening- Obviously the yoke-8 can be fastened to a board or wall in a permanent position for convenient use. While I have used the presently preferred form of my invention to describe the principles'an'd teachingsthereof, it is to be understood that it may be otherwis embodied Within the scope .of the appended claims.

I claim: V

l. A knife sharpener comprising guide means for guiding an edge tobe sharpenedalong a path, a pair of frusto-conical abrading rollers spaced along said path, a resilient supporting member for each roller, said supporting members'being spaced along the path, each supporting member comprising a pair of spaced lugs-extending toward-the other of said-supporting members, each of said pairs of lugs having means for rotatably carrying the associated roller with a face of the roller along said path, and with the axis of the roller at anangle to said path, the axis of said rollers 1ying in spaced substantially parallel planes having said path therebetween.

2. -A knife sharpener comprising guide means for guiding an edge to be sharpened. along a path, a pair of frusto-conical abrading rollers Number member for each roller, said supporting members being; spacedalong the path, each supporting member comprising a pair of spaced lugs xtend- .ing toward the other of said supporting members,

eacliof. said pairs of lugs havin means for rotatably carrying the associated roller with a fac of the roller along said path, and with the axi of therollerat an anglejto s aid path, the axi of said rollers lying in spaced'substantiall'y paral i lel planes having said path therebetween, one lug of each of said pairs of lugs extending across and beneath saidpath and upwardl on'the side of the -path' opposite to the roller which the lug supports to providesa-id guidemeans; I i A knife sharpener for sharpeningan edge, 'comprisingfa resilient U-shaped' supporthaving a base and leg members, a frusto-conical abrasive-roller rotatably mounted on each leg with the axes of said rollers lyingin substantially parallel planes but spaced from each other in a direction along a sharpening path for said edge through said mechanism, said axes lying on different sides or" said path and slanting in diiierent directions. and b'eing'resiliently urged in a direction towards said path by said support.

5. A knifesharpener for sharpening an edge, comprising a. resilient U-shaped support having a base and legmembers, afrusto-conical abrasive roller rotatably mountedon each leg with the axes of said rollers lying'in substantially parallel planes but spaced fromeach other in a direction along a sharpening path for said edge through said mechanism, said axes lying on different sides of said pathv and slanting in different directions and being resiliently urged in a direction towards said pathby said support, each leg member also having a lug extending across and beneath said path and upwardly on the side of the path-opposite to the roller supported by said leg member, said lugs forming guides for a knife alongsaid path.

j FINN B. ABRAMSEN.

, vEEF ER EIKTCES CITED The following references are of recordin the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATEIQTS 7 Name Dat e 1,055,739 Haas Mar. 11, 1913 1,177,821 Serafimidis. Apr. 4, 1916 1,342,275 Cornell June 1, 1920 1,360,998 Barber Dec. '7, 1920 1,417,158- Fran'kland' May 23, :1922 1,426,911,. Rogers Aug. 22, 1922 Heyman 1- June 19, 

